Bring Bilingual Books & Materials to Children 0-8

As we write this report, 10 million children are transitioning to kindergarten. If current literacy proficiency trends hold, by the end of 3rd grade, 7 million will be reading below grade level. And as they mature, interventions become costlier and more ineffective. We are trying to stem this trend one child at a time.

At Raising A Reader, we await the back to school bell with great hope and anticipation. Over the summer, we have worked with our 315 partners across 37 States to ensure that they have the materials and training to successfully implement our program that rotates more than 15 million books and serves more than 120,000 children and families nationally. Back to School means that we have another year of promise and hard work ahead to bring high-quality, award-winning books to children that need them most and to empower parents to understand that they are their child's first teacher and no matter if they themselves are reluctant readers, they can help their child to succeed.

In our new kindergarten cohort this year, half live in poverty and more than 60 percent of those living in poverty don't have one book in their home. And many of these children because they haven't been exposed to books are entering kindergarten with a 30 million word deficit compared to their more affluent peers.

Thank you for your support of our children and their literacy success as they go back to school this year!